Whole Grain Baguettes and Bruschetta

Several years back a friend came to my house with homemade Bruschetta. It tasted so wonderful. I have thought it would be wonderful to give it a try sometime, and so I finally did.

I enjoyed creating a new recipe I hadn't tried before. I thought it would be fun to make whole grain baguettes. The recipes I looked up all had white with the wheat. It is not a problem to have the combo, but my preference is to stick with the whole grain when I can. The baguettes turned out well. My daughter had given me a baguette pan that worked perfect. It helps to not have it spread when it rises and bakes. I also loved the texture it gave to the bottom of the bread.

It was then fun to make the baguettes into brushetta. It was a crowd pleaser. My son thought it was liking eating little pizzas (and he doesn't usually like tomatoes!). I look forward to making it again. You could buy the baguettes if you don't have time to go to the extra work. :) It would make a great addition to the 4Th of July weekend.

Ingredients: Makes 2 Baguettes

Baguette
5 1/2 to 6 C whole grain flour*
2 T flax seed ground
2 C Warm water
2 T yeast
1 T honey
1/4 C kefir or plain yogurt (helps with the rising.)
1 tsp salt
4 T olive oil

Directions:
1. In bread mixer pour in 2 C flour, warm water, ground flax, honey, and yeast. Let sit about 10 minutes till it starts to bubble and foam. If it doesn't bubble and foam, your yeast is dead.

2. Then add the kefir, salt, oil and flour 1 C at a time. You want the dough to be slightly sticky still, and the dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl. Knead about 5 minutes. If you are using spelt. If you are using wheat and white flour you could knead a little longer. Let the dough rest 5 minutes in the bowl.

3. Then take the dough out of the bowl, and rub oil all over the dough. Cover and leave in a warm place on the counter. Let it double. (about 45 minutes to an hour)

4. Then form into 2 long loaves, and place on greased baking sheet or greased baguette pan. They should be about 2 inches thick approx. Then make small cuts across the top diagonally. Then brush olive oil on top. Let rise again about 20 minutes. Bake at 400 15 to 20 min.


*Whole grains ground into flour; about 5C spelt, 3C kamut, 1/2 C each: brown rice, oats, buckwheat. I have extra and store it in the fridge till next time I need it. You can use your own combo.

Bruschetta:

Ingredients:
5-6 ripe tomatoes Roma or vine ripened cut into small pieces
4 cloves minced garlic
1/3 C olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
3 T dried bail or 1/4 C fresh basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 baguette
1 C cheese mozzarella or fresh grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. Turn oven on to broiler setting.

2. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Then let sit for 5 to 10 minutes to let the flavors combine.

3. In the mean time cut up the baguette into small angled slices about 3/4 " thick approx. Place on cookie sheet. Brush top side with olive oil and broil 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly golden.

4. Then take out of the oven, and put a scoop of tomato mixture on each baguette. Then top with small amount of cheese. Place back in the oven 3-5 minutes. Watch so they don't over bake.

Enjoy!